Outstanding Graduate Student ( Masters or Doctoral level )
The Alumni Award for Outstanding Graduate Student is awarded to a student who has demonstrated a commitment to Gwynedd Mercy University and its Mercy Mission as well as a commitment to academics and personal or professional goals .
Recipient : Phelicia W . Baker Doctor of Education in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Lisa Baker will be graduating with her EdD in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education . She currently serves as an Instructional Coach for the Mary McLeod Bethune Day Academy in Washington , D . C . In this role , she helps support the instructional development of teachers , provides technical support , guides teachers and teams on how to use student achievement data , and keeps faculty members focused on instructional improvement .
Lisa has a deep commitment to diversity , equity , and inclusion . She has impressed the faculty at GMercyU with her commitment to the University ’ s Core Value of social justice and she serves as a role model to her peers by strongly advocating for the support of students with diverse needs .
Lisa ’ s dissertation examines the nuances of environments and interactions that impact the lacking and delayed treatment for Black women facing anorexia . Like most issues pertaining to racial injustice , it is often dismissed as invalid . Lisa ’ s dissertation allows people the opportunity to walk in the shoes of the women she observed to see where barriers are created . Her research provides an alternate path that can help improve not only the lives of these women , but help improve society as a whole .